This Will Destroy You takes a step back

This Will Destroy You’s new album lacks growth, spirit.

By Joey Vergara

Published Jan. 29, 2008

Along with beef and oil, Texas has become a leading producer of post-rock instrumental bands. And while some (Explosions in the Sky) have creatively forged their own way, others have somehow made a living from overindulgent, copycat moves.

This Will Destroy You wasn’t always one of these bands. Their 2006 “Young Mountain” EP showed a remarkable potential for such a young band from the hellhole that is San Marcos, Texas.

The songs, if slightly reminiscent of all the big genre names (Explosions, Mogwai, Do Make Say Think), actually carried some sort of emotion. “There Are Some Remedies Worse Than the Disease” was the quintessential post-rock force: gradual build, twinkling guitar and an explosive outro replete with feedback and chaos. “I Believe In Your Victory” toyed with volumes and dynamics in all the right ways. This was a band I was willing to see two or three times in one week (as I did in January and March 2006, respectively).

Somewhere down the line — two years, multiple big-name supporting tours and an escape from the little-Texan-band-that-could title — something is missing from TWDY’s self-titled full-length.

The once-blossoming band’s momentum has, put simply, flat lined. Instead of the strong pulse and curious lifeblood heard throughout “Young Mountain,” robotic electronics serve as the background for instrumental ruminations. Without its spirit, TWDY really has no bite to bother threatening anything.

The songs are long (only one clocks in at less than four minutes), and you definitely feel it. Even the few songs that erupt just a tiny bit (“A Three-Legged Workhorse,” “The Mighty Rio Grande”) mostly plod along with build-ups that are cheap knock-offs of Explosions In The Sky’s greatest riffs. This couldn’t have been helped by the fact that producer John Congleton previously worked with Explosions.

If the electronics that once minimally accented TWDY’s music aren’t taking the life out of the songs on the band’s eponymous album, they’re straight up washing everything else out. “Villa del Refugio” is a rather pointless seven-minute track that quickly wears out its welcome. And again, “They Move On Tracks of Never-Ending Light” relies far too heavily on the band’s weakest point to keep it going at the three-minute mark. It’s a song that could have actually been something if not for the electronic drums kicking in and taking hold.

Where TWDY actually succeeds on “S/T” is in transforming a song into a story and more than just music. Listening to “The Mighty Rio Grande” brings up vivid images of a relentless river cascading through valleys and transcending borders, pausing to take a breath every once in a while before breaking through once more.

It’s not as if much has changed since “Young Mountain.” The post-rock elements that made the EP what it was are still there. Some of the songs still break down into movements that speak for the band’s ability to craft classically beautiful music. Still, there’s a strong current of stagnation that weakens the grandeur of the record. The electronics and tired tricks have left TWDY’s music deadened and passionless — results an instrumental band can’t afford.